The Conversation

As concerns mount over integrity of US elections, so does support for international poll monitors

Written by Timothy Rich, Associate Professor of Political Science, Western Kentucky University

International observers from Canada, India and Jamaica tour the Utah County election facilities on Nov. 6, 2018 in Provo, Utah.George Frey/Getty Images

With the U.S. presidential election approaching, Americans face a daunting set of challenges as they prepare to vote.

Many voters fear the coronavirus will force them to risk their lives at the polls...

Trump’s law-and-order campaign relies on a historic American tradition of racist and anti-immigrant politics

Written by Austin Sarat, Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty and Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

President Trump stressed law and order on a recent trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin.Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The Republican Party made it clear in its national convention that it intends to make restoring “law and order” central to this fall’s presidential campaign.

As he did when he first ran in 2016, President Donald Trump hig...

Portland and Kenosha violence was predictable – and preventable

Written by Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Professor of Education and Sociology, American University

Portland police hold back Chandler Pappas, who was with the victim, in the wake of a fatal shooting on Aug. 29, 2020.Nathan Howard/Getty Images

The U.S. reached a deadly moment in protests over racial injustice, as back-to-back shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 25 and 29 took the lives of three people and seriously...

Dangerous bacteria is showing up in school water systems, reminding all buildings reopening amid COVID-19 to check the pipes

Written by Caitlin R. Proctor, Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellow, Purdue University

Schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania have already found Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease, in their water systems.Andrew Whelton/Purdue University, CC BY-ND

As schools cautiously reopen for the fall semester, several have discovered potentially harmful bacteria in their water systems. Parents are likely concerned about what...

Business liability shield is holding up another coronavirus bailout – a legal scholar explains why immunity is unnecessary and even harmful

Written by Timothy D. Lytton, Distinguished University Professor & Professor of Law, Georgia State University

Reasonable precautions like advising customers to wear masks can be enough to prevent successful lawsuits. Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

Senate Republicans’ push to grant companies sweeping immunity from civil liability for failure to adequately protect workers and customers from infection has been one of the key sticking points...

A doctor's open apology to those fighting overweight and obesity

Written by J. David Prologo, Associate Professor, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory University

Doctors have told people who are overweight to exercise more and eat less, when in fact their overweight may be due to genetic or other factors that exercise won't change. UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, CC BY-SA

Obesity has emerged as a significant risk factor for poor outcomes in patients infected with COVID-19. Based on how...

Does 4 years of college make students more liberal?

Written by Matthew J. Mayhew, The William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Higher Education, The Ohio State University

Students' positive attitudes toward conservative ideas are the same before and after four years of college. FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Over four years of college, students develop positive attitudes for political liberals but not conservatives.

Why it matters

Higher...

Protecting half of the planet is the best way to fight climate change and biodiversity loss – we've mapped the key places to do it

Written by Greg Asner, Director, Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science and Professor, Arizona State University

Rapid loss of species like these Spix's macaws, considered extinct in the wild, may represent the sixth mass extinction in Earth's history.PATRICK PLEUL/DPA/AFP via Getty Images

Humans are dismantling and disrupting natural ecosystems around the globe and changing Earth’s climate. Over the past 50 years, actions like farming, logging,...

How the Civil War drove medical innovation – and the pandemic could, too

Written by Jeffrey Clemens, Associate Professor of Economics, University of California San Diego

Bernard Tobey, a double amputee, and his son, wearing Union sailor uniforms, standing beside a small wagon displaying Secretary of War Edwin Stanton's dispatch on the fall of Fort Fisher. Fetter's New Photograph Gallery/Library of Congress

The current COVID-19 pandemic, the largest public health crisis in a century, threatens the health of people...

The pandemic has revealed the cracks in US manufacturing: Here's how to fix them

Written by Sridhar Kota, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan

The global pandemic has interrupted supply chains for almost 75% of US companies.Thatree Thitivongvaroon/Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed glaring deficiencies in the U.S. manufacturing sector’s ability to provide necessary products – especially amidst a crisis. It’s been five months since the nation declared a...